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Clink, Clink, Clink Goes the Trolly

Jack Francis’ whimsical kiddie trolly is clanging along to the tune of merry dollars.

JACK FRANCIS is a dreamer who follows up an idea by saying: “Let’s try it.”

Optimistic as he is, even Francis thought his idea for a kids’ trolly was a bit zany. While he rode around on his motorcycle, doing his job as a traffic officer for the city of Oakland, Calif., he kept thinking about building a little trolly car.

In his work with traffic safety, Francis had plenty of experience with youngsters. He loves children and, with the trolly car scheme he had in mind, he thought he had something that would make them happy. But he had three problems: no money to build it, no place to operate it, and no time to undertake such a project. Read the rest of this entry »

I love the name of the sidecar. Nothing says fun like a Kiddy Tub.

Side Car Attached to Tricycle Adds Fun for the Children
THE use of side cars and rumble seats is now being extended to children’s vehicles, thus cutting down the expense of parents by making one vehicle serve two children. A recently patented children’s tricycle with a side car attachment suitable for carrying an additional passenger is pictured in the photo at the left. Children of small weight can be carried without adding perceptibly to the burden of the driver or to the wear of the machine. The vehicle is durably constructed of wood and metal and has an attractive appearance. It will prove a great boon to children who have a smaller brother or sister to take care of.

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Making Trick PICTURES with a Home Movie Camera

by Walter E. Burton

Half the fun in making home movies lies in getting unusual shots that will mystify friends viewing your production. Taking such trick pictures is quite simple and easy, as told here.

IF YOU purchase, borrow, or receive as a present a motion picture camera, you will find the mere process of photographing everything in sight thrilling enough for the first half-dozen reels. Then you will look about for new fields to conquer. Perhaps you will undertake the making of your own dramas or comedies—movies with a plot or at least a basic theme. Read the rest of this entry »

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King of Cymbals

An ancient Turkish formula has grown into one of the world’s most fabulous monopolies.

By H. W. Kellick

IN quiet, colonial North Quincy, Massachusetts, a small vault-like structure as impenetrable as Fort Knox reverberates with a crash echoed ’round the world by 99 per cent of the professional bands and orchestras. Read the rest of this entry »

First Signing by television of a legally binding contract was consummated above when executives of the Dumont Television Laboratories in New York and officials of the Chevrolet Motor Company, two hundred miles away in Washington, D. C, put their John Henry’s on the dotted line while watching each other in the television screen. This picture was snapped at the New York end. The screen shows what was going on in Washington.

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Tracks That Violence Leaves

Are Americans becoming addicted to violence? And if so, does the violence that can be seen daily on television, for instance, contribute to the addiction? Dr. Victor Bailey Cline, a University of Utah clinical psychologist, has started a series of experiments which seem to him to point to a definite affirmative conclusion. In a one-seat theater in his Salt Lake City laboratory, Dr. Cline, left, and an associate, Dr. John Atzet, show motion pictures of kinds and degrees of violence to subjects hung with sensors that produce a physiograph (left) of their responses to what is appearing on the screen. Read the rest of this entry »

Yay for early DRM. How long do you think it would have been before some Norwegian kid built themselves a Descrambling Card Simulation System (DeCSS) and gave the plans to all of their friends so they could view scrambled broadcasts on their non compatible European TVs?

Subscription TV
WOULD you like to see the opera, ballet, latest sports events, movies and Broadway plays on TV, sans commercials? If the FCC okays Skiatron, by merely inserting special program cards in a decoder unit attached to your set, you’ll view special programs at nominal fees.

Wow, RCA seems to have tried out every technology that could possibly compete with VCRs, slapped the SelectaVision name on it and saw if it would sell. Did these ever get released?

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Laser Holographic Color TV Tape Cartridges

A low-cost color TV tape player built around lasers and holography has been unveiled by RCA. Called SelectaVision, it will play full-color programs recorded on tapes made of the same clear, cheap plastic used to wrap meats and vegetables in supermarkets. This material costs about one-tenth as much as conventional films. The scratch- and dust-proof tapes will be able to run in slow motion or stopped to study individual frames, if desired, and can be replayed countless times. Read the rest of this entry »

I wonder if the people from Antiques Roadshow thought they came up with this idea first.

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Trash or Treasure

Take your heirloom to Rothschild. He’ll know if it’s worth dollars—or peanuts.

By Lester David

SOMETIMES, Sigmund Rothschild is a good man to know. Sometimes, he’s as welcome as a bill collector. It’s because the stolid Mr. Rothschild who has uncovered more hidden treasure than Black-beard, Jean Lafitte and the rest of the pirate mob combined, can make you a lot richer than you think you were. Or a lot poorer.
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A PORTABLE COLOR RECORDER

Newest type of helical-scan video tape machine has been colorized

By JOE ROIZEN*

RECORDING COLOR TELEVISION SIGNALS on magnetic tape has been practical since 1958 when the first compatible color broadcast recorders went into service. These transverse studio machines use four heads which rotate at right angles to tape travel (see Fig. 1). The machines also contain very complex circuitry and time-base correction devices. The circuits are necessary to achieve studio-quality NTSC playbacks that meet FCC specifications for on-the-air transmission; such VTR’s (video tape recorders) range in price from $40,000 to $100,000. Read the rest of this entry »

Robot Plays Card Games Press Button – It Deals a Hand

TO PLAY a game of cards with this robot merely press a button. Miniature cards are speedily shuffled and a full hand of five cards flash into view. Each hand is awarded points according to the value of the cards. A pair counts five, three of a kind counts fifteen, a straight represents fifty, and so on up the scale.
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Here comes TV for everybody

The whole country, and not just a few metropolitan centers, will enjoy television when new ultra-high-frequency stations go on the air.

IF YOUR home is outside the TV areas today, it is almost sure to be inside one within a few years. If you now can get only one or two stations, you’ll have a wider choice pretty soon.

Right now a total of 108 television stations are on the air. They all use waves from four to 18 feet long in the very-high-frequency range, called VHF. In the VHF range, only a few hundred stations can be fitted without interfering with each other. Read the rest of this entry »